I quite often hear it said at conferences and other events where fundraisers get together, that we’re super heroes, we’re amazing! And although it’s true that we do our jobs with great dedication, it has always made me a little uncomfortable to think of myself that way.

And then I saw the Avengers movies and it clicked for me. We’re not the super heroes – Hulk, Cap America, Iron Man and the like. No, those are our donors and beneficiaries, who we work tirelessly to inspire and support. We’re Agent Phil Coulson of SHIELD – call him Coulson, Agent Coulson, or AC if you must. Never Phil – he hates that.

Agent Coulson is fearless. He’s tireless. He’s unflappable. He always has a plan. But he’s not up front. He knows his role’s behind the scenes, coaching and coaxing those brilliant but temperamental heroes to step up and do the right thing. And he’s proud to do that.

And he may take a lance from an Asgardian super-villain for the team (and which of us hasn’t heard of a great fundraiser fired because someone else didn’t really get it?) and yes, that’s heroic. But it doesn’t make him a full-blown Hero with a capital H.

Because he’s an enabler – and that’s what we are too.

And we’ll do our jobs with everything we have and no-one will know who we are outside our circles. And that’s fine.

2 responses to “Fundraisers – we are Agent Coulson”

I so agree! Though technically half the time S.H.I.E.L.D. are there to contain and restrain superheroes… actually come to think of it that can be part of the job too!! 😉 Wait a minute… Coulson ends up dead *worried face*

Ha ha, yes Marg, that was inconvenient for my metaphor so I left it out 🙂 And it’s Coulson’s ‘death’ (he comes back for the telly series) that I’m talking about with the ‘taking the lance for the team’ bit 🙂